


Jack's Toy

by lolanbq



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Coming Out, Established Relationship, Fluff, Inside jokes, Nicknames
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-31 11:12:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6467953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lolanbq/pseuds/lolanbq
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shitty tries to tease Eric and Jack about their nicknames, it doesn't go as planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jack's Toy

They had found the nickname when Jack had been trying to comfort Eric. It was one of the few times this had had to happen, usually it was Jack who needed the extra hug every now and again as he bravely dealt with his anxiety. So Jack was more than happy to pull Eric into his arms and comfort him through whatever dark place he was dealing with.

“Hush, Eric, you’re going to be okay,” Jack cooed into Eric’s hair as his boyfriend hiccuped his way through a sob. Jack only pulled him in tighter, “I don’t know what’s going on, but you are going to make it through this. I just know it.” Jack had no idea when he had gotten decently good at comforting people, but it would be a lie to say that Eric wasn’t a fantastic influence on him.

“Jack,” Eric sniffled, “you don’t know that. You don’t know what’s going on. You-” He broke off into more crying. Jack kissed the top of his head and tucked his boyfriend under his chin.

“Would you mind telling me then?” Jack asked carefully, no matter how open Eric seemed to the rest of the team Jack knew better. When it came to the most important things Eric kept those things close to his chest.

“My dad.” That was all Eric managed to get out before he was crying again. That was all Eric had to get out for Jack to know what was going on. He must have come out to his parents, and his dad must not have taken it well.

“Bitty, baby, I am so proud of you for what you did,” Jack assumed that he still hadn’t gotten the hang of this comforting thing because Eric was shaking even harder in his arms, trying to push Jack away slightly. When Jack did let Eric go, he was surprised to find that Eric wasn’t crying harder, he was instead laughing. Jack was confused at the sudden change of heart. It must have shown on his face since Eric smiled apologetically at him.

“Sorry, it’s nothing,” Jack was confused, “It just made me laugh is all.” And that made Jack smile.

“Well, I’m glad I could help?” Jack pulled a squirming Eric closer pushing kisses to every available space on his face. Eric laughing the entire time.

It wasn’t until much later that Jack was comfortable making Eric think about what had made him cry earlier. It wasn’t until they were laying in Eric’s bed at the Haus, legs tangled, arms protectively around each other, soft breaths warming skin that Jack could bring it up.

“Bitty, what about your dad?” This time Eric could tell him exactly what had happened without bursting into tears, sure his breath was shaky, but his brave boyfriend told the story. Jack pulled him closer when he was done, “You’re going to be okay, Bitty Baby.”

 

Since then they had yet to come up with a better nickname that that. Sure Jack had the French ones that he liked to drop in public, but they just, by some unspoken rule, kept “Bitty Baby” to themselves. Used only when it was just the two of them.

Jack doesn’t really think about it until he gets a new phone. Now he isn’t really inventive when it comes to giving people nicknames or whatever in his contacts, but putting his boyfriend in as just “Eric” seemed wrong. Eric was more than that to him, even Shitty got a sort of nickname “The Shits” although to be fair Shitty picked that one himself. So he takes a few days after getting it before he can change Eric’s name from being just a heart emoji, which thanks to Eric he now knows where they are.

It was a couple more days before he saw the obvious name choice. Eric had been texting him about how stressed he was about this project he had due for class; a six page paper,  an accompanying powerpoint, a minimum twenty minute presentation, and food for the entire class. The food part wasn’t the worry. It was just everything else. Seeing this in his boyfriend Jack did not hesitate to respond with their nickname.

And it worked immediately. Eric agreed to take deep breaths and work on the paper one paragraph at a time until he reached his conclusion and to find some extra information to put in the powerpoint to drag the presentation out to the full time limit.

Jack couldn’t believe he had been worried about what to put Eric down as in his phone and while Jack was waiting for a response from Eric he went ahead and changed the name. Instead of the lone heart emoji, Eric now had words for his contact name. Eric was most definitely his Bitty Baby. Jack kept the name change to himself, though he imagined the blush he would get if he were ever to tell Eric.

 

They never tried to actively keep the nickname a secret. They just were both private people when it came to their relationship, the fact that Jack wasn’t out yet to anyone didn’t help exactly. They would have changed it at some point, probably, but Eric never seemed to like the French ones that Jack would whisper into his hair as they fell asleep, or the ones that would slip out when Jack was in a rush, or the ones that Jack said because he loved the way his boyfriend would blush when he wasn’t quite sure what he was being called. By some unfathomable reason the nickname “Bitty Baby” stuck and neither of them could imagine it changing anytime soon.

Jack and Shitty have the weirdest friendship anyone had ever seen, besides Ransom and Holster’s (given they were even still just _friends_ ), their boundaries were nonexistent. Which confused everyone since Jack had a monopoly on personal space. Jack was just so used to Shitty doing whatever the hell he wanted, no matter what the answer to asking for permission was, that he hadn’t even noticed that Shitty was going through his phone. He still had no idea what he was looking for to begin with.

“Jack?”

“Hmm?” The history paper he was working on was kind of kicking his ass and he hadn’t meant to encourage Shitty’s constant one sided existential crisis.

“You’re Canadian, right?” This was going to be the perfect lead in to an argument about borders or something. Well, right now Jack had ample evidence as to why they were both good and bad.

“Um, yeah?”

“Do you know what American Girl Dolls are?” This was not going where Jack thought this was going.

“Not really, but I think we have a Canadian version of them. Maplelea dolls or something?” He had cousins who had wanted them more than they had wanted to breathe, he had never understood it, but he never put much thought into it.

“Well, in America we have these dolls and for the younger kids there are these baby dolls.” Jack turns around to face Shitty because he has no idea why this is relevant.

“What’s your point, Shitty?”

“They’re called Bitty Babies.”

And then it all makes sense. Jack’s phone in Shitty’s hand, the nickname for Eric that after all this time he had just stopped thinking about, and the fact that Eric never explained why that nickname made him laugh so hard.

“Oh.”

 

Nothing had come of that either. Shitty never mentioned it again, only gave some pointed glances at Jack when he would smile softly at his phone. And if Lardo questioned any of it she wisely kept her mouth shut.

Was there a reason that Shitty decided to get Jack a present? No, not really. Did he get Jack a present anyway? Yes, yes he did.

“Shitty, what is this?” Jack had planted himself in the kitchen, camping out through Bitty’s baking marathon and trying to tackle his massive pile of homework. If he got fresh pies out of it too then that was just a perk of being in the room.

“A present. Obviously.” Shitty never took a seat, which should have been the first clue.

“Jack, did I miss a birthday? Or some Canadian holiday?” Bitty took a rare break from baking to look over concerned that maybe he’d had possible missed an actual reason to bake.

“No, Shitty’s just being weird. The usual.” Jack hesitantly took the wrapped box, confused by the weight of it, it was oddly light for such a big box. Shitty just leaning against the archway snickering behind his hand. Jack was skeptical as he sat there staring at him, Bitty was too distracted by the box.

After a long moment of deep consideration, weighing his options of returning the gift and being chirped for not trusting him or opening it and being chirped for whatever the gift was. Jack didn’t have many options here and he could easily see that Shitty was about to fucking lose it. Carefully, Jack peeled back the wrapping paper, bracing himself for the worst.

He was not expecting a pastel pink box with a heart shaped cut out showing off what was inside. Jack’s face heated up, turning redder than Bitty’s cherry-strawberry-raspberry pie. Printed across the front of the box in clear white letters was the name of the product. It was a Bitty Baby.

“Shitty, what is this?” Jack wanted to laugh it off or throw up. He looked at Bitty from the corner of his eye and saw his cheeks burn bright and eyes grow wide.

“Well, you seemed to like your first toy so much, I thought I would get you another.” Shitty had his smug grin on waiting for the backlash to hit him. Dude liked to live on the edge. Jack would have beat the shit out of him for calling Bitty a toy, but it was Shitty. Despite what most people thought, he didn’t have a malicious bone in him.

“Shitty Knight, are you giving me competition?” Bitty plopped into the chair next to Jack opening the lid of the doll box, revealing the little baby boy’s curled blond hair, large brown eyes that closed when it set down flat, lips pursed ready for the binky that was included in the box. There was also a little stuffed bunny that was proportionally small to the baby dolls size. Bitty smiled softly picking the stuffed animal up, “Hey, look here. There’s a little Señor Bun.”

Shitty had been about to break into a laughing fit, mercilessly teasing Jack about his love for Bitty Babies, but Bittle’s soft smile stopped him. Jack wasn’t seeing Bitty’s change in reaction, too focused on showing Shitty how unimpressed he was with the gag gift, but at least it wasn’t in front of the rest of the team. Ransom and Holster would have a field day, month, year, lifetime. But Shitty’s taunts died on his tongue as he watched his gift fail to get the intended reaction.

 

That was how Jack got a baby doll as a permanent fixture in his room. Eric Jr. sat cuddled up on Jack’s book shelf next to a couple small hockey trophies, they were starting him out young. Shitty still gets a kick out of it, laying in Jack’s bed across from the bookcase. Jack gets a bigger kick out of it, but no one enjoyed the baby doll more than Bitty himself. The times when Bitty got to be the small spoon when he and Jack cuddled you could bet that Eric Jr. would be the smallest spoon.

It got to the point once again that they stopped thinking about it, stopped thinking about it until it was time for Jack to graduate and move to Providence. No one in the Haus was looking forward to that, but Eric least of all. After one last epic kegster party when half the team was wasted and the other half half was passed out around the Haus, though no one was stupid enough, even drunk, to pass out in Bittle’s kitchen. Shitty was on his last wind of energy, barely conscious with Lardo curled up and asleep in his lap, Jack and Bittle were seated next to each other in front of the gross couch.

“Hey, Bittle,” The room was quiet enough that Eric could hear Jack whisper, but the day had been long and the night had been emotionally charged so his reaction time was starting to drop. Jack had to nudge him to get him to react.

“Mhmm?” Eric cuddled deeper into Jack’s side, he was fine with crashing on the floor, sadly that would mean falling asleep without Junior, but he was too tired to care.

“Bitty, I got you a present.” Jack shifted away and Eric didn’t know where Jack had been hiding the box to keep it safe from the partiers, but he wasn’t going to question it.

“Honey, I’m not sure you know how this works. We’re suppose to get _you_ presents.” Eric tried to push the wrapped box away from him, but Jack was insistent and soon Eric was opening his gift. Then staring at his present, followed by uncontrollable tipsy giggling. Eric might not have had a ton of drinks that night, so he could be sober enough to spend some more time meaningfully cuddling with his boyfriend.

Though maybe Eric would be spending more time with the gift.

“Mr. Zimmerman, did you get me a Jack Junior?” Eric sleepily gazed down at the baby doll with dark brown hair and sky blue eyes, how did they get the eye color so close? Next to the little baby doll was a tiny stuffed sheep, just like Eric Junior had come with a bunny.

“Yeah, I did, but this one isn’t a Bitty Baby. This one is from the Canadian Company, Maplelea Girls. I had a stuffed sheep as a kid, called him Baa.” Jack’s cheek flushed pink with embarrassment, no one, not even Shitty, knew about Baa. He wasn’t even sure his parents knew the extent of his attachment to the stuffed animal.

“Oh Jack, you are such a dork.” Eric tackled his boyfriend in a hug he wasn’t planning on letting him go anytime soon. That night they fell asleep legs tangled, fingers grasping any surface they can, Jack’s head tucked under Eric’s chin, and both the baby dolls tucked neatly on Jack’s rapidly emptying bookcase.

 

None of the Frogs ever had the nerve to ask the upperclassmen why there was a new looking baby doll in the kitchen whenever Bitty made his campus-famous Maple glazed apple pie. Ransom and Holster would take their turns babysitting it and affectionately buy the toy baby clothes and hockey gear. The Frogs have seen the team be weird, but never as weird as with that doll and none of them are sure they’re able to deal with it.

They all give up trying to understand why this happens or why exactly everyone freaks out when they see it in the kitchen, other than the direct correlation of what kind of pie Bitty will be making. The team is watching the Falconer’s game, more correctly the after game of the team leaving.

“ _Jack, hey, Jack! Mr. Zimmerman, we hear you’re going to be taking some personal time! Are you going to be meeting with anyone special?_ ” The female reporter shoved her microphone in his face. The other players were also getting attacked with questions, but no one was fooled into thinking that they didn’t have one ear tuned into what the son of Bad Bob was saying.

“ _Just taking some time to see some friends. We all need to breathe, eh?_ ” Jack gave a sheepish smile to the camera. He started to walk away, but got justled from the crowd, knocking open the flap of his duffle bag to reveal towels, a water bottle, and the blond hair of on top of a plastic head. The Samwell Men’s Hockey team were not the only people to notice.

“ _Mr. Zimmerman, what’s that in your bag?_ ” She tried to press forward, but that was closer than the security team wanted her, “ _Is that a baby doll in your bag?_ ” Jack gives a questioning, teasing smile before climbing the bus stairs.

The Frogs watching were quiet as they took in the knowledge that Jack Zimmerman, _the Jack Zimmerman_ , also had a baby doll. Was that a hockey thing they didn’t know about? If it was there were a lot of players missing out on the tradition. Some dared looked over to Bitty who was curled up in a chair with a blanket and his doll, which he only called Junior. Bitty’s face was tinged pink and his doll was clutched tighter to his chest.

“Well,” Holster broke the silence, “I would hate to be on that legal team.” No one said anything. Bitty wished them goodnight and went to bed. Which was weird since he usually stayed up on friday nights to Skype a friend. Some were starting to get an idea of who that friend was.

Anyone who stayed the night at the Haus was woken up with the heavenly scents of pancakes and frying bacon, courtesy of Bittle of course. They had been expecting this. They had not been expecting a second voice in the kitchen when Bitty was always the first person up anyway. There were dropped jaws all around when the Frogs saw _the Jack Zimmerman sitting in their kitchen joking with Bitty like they’ve known each other for years_. They had missed the fact that the two baby dolls were sitting comfortably on a remote part of the counter.

“Jack, they saw your Junior on screen last night. You have to know that they’ll be asking questions.” Bittle started piling pancakes on to plates, “If not the media then definitely the Frogs, we haven’t decided anything yet and maybe it’s about time we did. I mean, I don’t want the team to feel like we’ve been lying to them. I honestly don’t really care what the media thinks about us, but the team-”

“Bitty Baby,” Jack’s voice is low and calm and it takes such an immediate effect on Bittle that the team had never seen before. He slides up behind Eric, wrapping his arms around him, and resting his chin on the top of his head, “we’re going to figure this out. We’ll be okay. The team is understanding and the media is going to make noise regardless.”

“I know.” Eric’s voice is soft as he sets the plates down to return Jack’s embrace. It would have been a perfect moment, except when one of the Frogs got a moment of clarity.

“I get it!” One of the Frogs yelled, scaring the the couple apart. Luckily the plates had already been set down or food would have flown everywhere. Embarrassed was not a look the team thought they would ever seen on _Jack Zimmerman_ , nor had they ever seen Bitty looking so nervous. The team stepped farther into the room, hiding at the door was pointless.

“You got what? You got no manners for spying on a couple of people having a conversation?” Scolding was Bitty’s default mode, that and making pie. The Frogs had enough sense left in them to look sheepish.

“No, well, sorry for listening, but I get why you both have the dolls.” The smart Frog didn’t elaborate for the rest of the confused team. Bittle looked at Jack, Jack looked at the Frogs for the longest time before meeting Eric’s eyes and shrugging.

“Well, since you’re all here anyway. Let’s get some breakfast.” Bitty started handing out plates stacked high with pancakes, plates toppling over with eggs and bacon were already on the table, the rest of the Upperclassmen started appearing once the young ones started making some noise instead of chewing their food. All of them scrambling to get in some words to Jack or to glean some words of Hockey Wisdom from the professional player himself.

“So, wrestling with college freshmen for food is your idea of taking some breathing time?” Holster teased from the doorway, having somehow gotten himself a plate. Ransom was stealing food off of it, but if Holster noticed he didn’t say anything.

“No, I don’t consider that taking some breathing time.” Jack leaned back in his chair, wrapping an arm around Eric’s waist pulling him in close, “I consider seeing my boyfriend and enjoying his wonderful cooking taking a breather.” Holster laughed.

The Frogs were speechless. Bitty filled their speechlessly open mouths with some pie as they tried to piece their ideas of the world back together.

And even though Chowder continually offered to give Jack his room back while he was there, no one was surprised when Jack stayed in Bitty’s room.

That night Jack was the big spoon, Eric was little spoon, Jack Junior was the smaller spoon, and Eric Junior was the littlest spoon.


End file.
